Parker's NHL career ended after 141 games with the Buffalo Sabres and Hartford Whalers. Parker, who grew up in White Bear Lake, says he joined the lawsuit because the league downplayed the risks of concussions while players were pressured to return to the lineup.

"(Concussions were) never anything discussed," Parker said. "If you got a little bell ringer or you got hit or something . . . they're looking for you to get back in the lineup."

Former NHL Jeff Parker speaks with KSTP about a lawsuit former players have filed against the league.

KSTP

Parker says he still reels from the consequences of a particular concussion suffered more than 25 years ago. "My head got caught in the glass and when I came to I thought I was playing for a different team," Parker said about his hit into the boards in 1991. "My head went oblong."